Plus, boos drowning out a Harlem rezone vote and Grand Theft Auto's uncanny recreation of a certain famous, fun-oriented island ("Johnson's Famous Hot Dogs"?). All that with mustard and sauerkraut in today's boroughs report.

Ditmas Park: That bright-red trail of blood at the Newkirk subway station? No worries, just a guy who slashed his hand while playing with a pen knife! [Ditmas Park Blog]
Dumbo: Wow, look at the big fat space on Main Street where performance den Galapagos will go in the wake of its move from Williamsburg. [DumboNYC]
East Village: Who's the dude with the mustache, British accent, and "big soulful brown eyes" who's ripping off small, women-owned boutiques? [Vanishing New York]

Brooklyn Heights: There's a funny smell on Henry Street. Well, funnier than usual. [Brownstoner]
Carroll Gardens: Congressman Bill de Blasio schedules a Town Hall meeting at the same time as a controversial Community Board Six meeting, so residents of Carroll Gardens can't go to both. Disgruntledness ensues. [Gowanus Lounge]
Noho: New Great Jones Street building might be an NYU dorm. Good — keep 'em where they belong. [Curbed]
Staten Island: Police are hunting for a laptop that has financial records of 280,000 city retirees. It was stolen from a Korean restaurant Monday night. Bad. News. [Staten Island Advance]
West Bronx: How the subprime fallout will affect the West Bronx. [West Bronx News]

Sandwiched between the West and East Village (at least according to the Noho NY Business Improvement District, though it's been creeping south into Chinatown), this neighborhood, especially its historic heart, grows more coveted everyday. Translation: It's expensive. To live in any of the cast-iron, brick, and limestone buildings on streets serviced by funky and increasingly upscale purveyors, you'll easily pay $1,000 per square foot. (More to set foot in Ian Schrager's 40 Bond.) Still, newcomers continue to make the real-estate pilgrimage, especially those seeking a classic loft (though new-construction condominiums have made their presence felt, especially on Bond Street). For more information, visit Noho Manhattan, a Website run by loyal locals, or stop in at open houses this weekend. You'll find a list after the jump.
S. Jhoanna Robledo

One of the Times’ ever-ambivalent world travelers goes to Japan. But if eating whale sashimi is wrong, he doesn't want to be right. [NYT]
Noho is for pedestrians: a helpful guide to its restaurants. [NYT]
Related: Our Noho lunch spots. [Grub Street]
Secrets of a hat-check person, revealed. It turns out women are checking not only their coats but also their pants. [NYP]

Around the intersection of Broadway and Houston, fashion retailers, gallery sitters, and workers from the Scholastic building can walk north and east for good, cheap NYU eats, or south and west for something with a little more Soho finesse.